Red Flag Warning issued; Mount Carmel issues bun ban
MOUNT CARMEL – With Wednesday’s fire weather danger, Mount Carmel has issued a burn ban to prevent brush fires in that community.
The National Weather Service at State College issued a Red Flag Warning for Wednesday due to the combination of high temperatures, high winds, low humidity, and low recent precipitation.
Mount Carmel issued a ban on all fire pits and outdoor fires as a result of the Red Flag Warning.
“The next few days it will be extremely dry and we are not expecting rain until the week-end, so we are asking the residence to be cautious to prevent any type of fires and protect our neighborhoods,” Mayor Philip Cimino said. “I am asking that we take it a step further until the weekend just to be safe.”
Shenandoah and West Mahanoy Township already prohibit outdoor burning.
The Aristes Fire Co. said in a Facebook post that the fire danger this week is the highest in years.
“With no leaves on the trees, little rain, and no left over snow pack, the understory and ground cover in the woods is extremely dry,” the fire company said. “Add the extremely low humidity and breezy conditions and you have a recipe for disaster.”
The Red Flag Warning is in effect until 8pm for Schuylkill, Northumberland, and Columbia Counties.
Winds of 10 to 20mph with gusts up to 30mph are expected with humidity between 25 and 35 percent and temperatures in the mid 70s to lower 80s.
“A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring or are imminent due to a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels,” the National Weather Service said. “Any fires that develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult to contain.”
Jake Novitsky, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) fire forester for Schuylkill and Carbon County, previously told the Sentinel that warm, dry days are not the days for outdoor burning. Such activities cause a vast majority of brush fires in the area.
“A lot of my busier days are in the spring — March, April, May — when you have a half-decent rain late at night, and then people think it’s okay to burn,” Novitsky said.
He said many brush fires are caused by people burning debris, refuse, leaves, etc., on dry days.
“People are cooped up in the winter and they want to get out there and clean up their leaves from over the winter and the fall, and clean up some brush fires and stuff like that and light it on fire,” Novitsky said. “The best days to do that is when it’s raining. When it’s overcast, when it’s drizzling a little bit.”
“A lot of people, for some reason, people like burning on [dry] days like this,” Novitsky added.
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